Kichimaru Tomaka, emotional ninja

Chapter 1

Being a ninja was never really a choice for me. As the first-born son of poor day laborers, it was my responsibility to financially support the house as soon as I could. The ninja academy was free if I took the genin corps track, and I could start earning at 12 years old. Being a ninja was not my dream, but it was my reality. Regardless, I had a happy childhood. My home was filled with noise and love, even if money was always tight, and I was a very emotional kid. I would cry at the drop of a hat and laughed at every joke. My Kaa-chan always said my face was an open book, my thoughts clearly reflected in my smiles, and Tou-chan could always tell if I was telling the whole truth. At home my expressiveness was loved, doing hard labor every day all day was hard for my parents and my siblings and I were good distractions, but at the ninja academy it was mocked. Other children were quick to call me a cry baby, and the instructors lectured me on shinobi rules. My days at the academy were long, but my evenings spent with family were warm. I finally came to a solution in my third year, when an older student mocked me while walking me crying to my teacher with a scrapped knee.

"Honestly what a cry baby, you're gonna have to wear a mask to hide your tears." He sneered at me as he left me at the classroom door. I sniffed and stuck my tongue at his back, appropriately childish considering I was 8 years old, before I wiped my face and entered the classroom loudly.

"Sugao-sensei! I hurt my knee again!" I snag out with a cheerful smile, despite the tears on my face. Sugao-sensei looked up from his desk where he was grading papers during our lunch time with a fond chuckle.

"Again Kichi-kun? And how did you do it this time?" He playfully fired back as he got up to get the first aid kit.

"I fell out of a tree." I grumble out through a sheepish grin before sitting in Sugao-sensei's chair and rolling up my standard black shinobi pants to show the injury. Sugao-sensei laughs as he pats my short black hair, mussing it up on purpose.

"I'm impressed, you haven't done that already, ne?" We fall into familiar banter as he cleans the scrape and rolls bandages securely around my knee expertly.

"And guess what Sato-senpai said!" I say with a playful pout as I jump out of his chair and test my knee. Sugao-sensei gestures for me to continue as he sits back down and starts to get back to his grading.

"Hm?"

"I should wear a mask to hide my tears! As if I would ever deprive anyone from seeing my cute face, I'm adorable when I cry!"

"Oh? Like then ANBU wear?" Sugao-sensei says distracted as he begins to search through piles of paper. His words stop me short; I didn't realize there were ninja who wore mask, nonetheless the elites. Suddenly I'm able to consider Sato-senpai's taunt as advice. I stay silent for a few seconds before asking hesitantly.

"Ano, Sugao-sensei?" At my nervous tone he looks up at me with concern.

"Hm, Kichi-kun?"

"Should I actually wear a mask?" I look up at him through watery eyes as my cheeks burn with shame. He takes a second, considering my words seriously when he realizes I'm being genuine, before he begins slowly.

"Well, it wouldn't be a terrible idea. We both know how expressive you are," Sugao-sensei adds with a teasing smile, "but I think a full mask would block too much of your vision at your current level, and you wouldn't want anyone confusing you with a hunter nin or ANBU." I nod in agreement as his nonjudging words allow me to fully relax, trusting him not to make fun of me.

"Is there less than a full mask?" I ask, curious at his specification.

"Ah, there are different cloth mask that cover parts of the face. Most of those wouldn't block your eyes." I hum noncommittally, trying to feign nonchalance as I excitedly consider his words. As my mind whirls with ideas I begin to wander around the classroom, prepared to wait out the last few minutes of our break inside scheming. Sugao-sensei laughs at my poor acting and leaves me to explore.

Soon after that day I decided on my 'mission uniform' and never again left my house without it on, which my family honestly thought was hilarious. A long sleeve black shirt with the collar connecting to a half face mask that covers up to my nose with skin tight cloth. Although the mask leaves my eyes in plain view, I start wearing my bangs hanging in my face with the short strands reaching just under my brown eyes, casting my face in shadows. I wore a large forest green jacket zipped halfway with the hood always on. Needless to say, I looked ridiculous and all sorts of sketchy. Sugao-sensei and my family got a kick out of it though, and it let me hide my expressive face while 'on duty'. While at home I always wore the face mask around my neck and slicked my hair back out of my face, leaving all my twitches and tells in full view for my loving family. With my family I continued to be a force of energy, openly affectionate and joking around with loud laughter, but while 'on duty' I bit my tongue and silently did as told, content with being seen as a mindless drone.

After establishing my boundaries, my future as a ninja seemed less grim. I talked with Sugao-sensei at length about the different jobs within the genin corps and different ninja specialties, and after much debate managed to find my niche. Courier missions relied on stealth and speed, the only combat necessary was in self-defense, and they were always in demand. I managed to find a balance between my gentle nature and the future I was forced into. My last few years at the ninja academy were spent mostly alone, but I developed my required skills with Sugao-sensei's help. I wore weights and ran through Konoha at full sprint for hours before class, ducking and weaving through different streets while trying to remain out of sight and silent. I was below average at taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjustu, but I practiced throwing weapons with Sugao-sensei every day after school. My accuracy started abysmal, but after years of practice I could nail multiple bullseyes with sprinting at full speed and dodging Sugao-sensei's 'distractions', which was really just Sugao-sensei's excuse to throw rocks at me and pop out randomly while claiming he was helping my sensory skills. Much to my surprise and Sugao-sensei's smug satisfaction, I actually did have basic chakra sensory skills that grew while under his tutelage. I could only sense chakra signatures close to me and barely mask my presence, but stealth became much easier. Sugao-sensei was an invaluable teacher and the main reason I was able to settle into ninja life, and without him I would've likely died soon after graduation. He retired from the academy the same year I graduated, but we still meet up at teahouses often and have a playful friendship.

I've been a courier nin for the genin corps for 3 years now and I've loved every second of it. While other ninja might mock me for doing easy missions and being suck in a dead-in job, I'm supporting my family while still being physically there for them. With my income my siblings could choose their futures and eat every meal, that's enough for me. I wear my headband on a thick black bandana tied around my neck and do my job well, an efficient worker bee in Konoha's hive, while training to further develop my specialties. Now at 15 years old I never missed a target with my senbon, and my stealth and speed are reaching Tokubetsu jonin levels. Although, I'm still terrible at taijutsu and always lose straightforward spars, can't do more than the academy three ninjutsu poorly, and the only thing I know about genjustu is to break out with 'kai'. My chakra sensory skills slowly developed to 100 feet , but without a specialized teacher there isn't much else I can do but meditate to hone my skill.

In short, I'm a terrible ninja who only takes courier missions because of my limited skillset. But I get to come home every day, let my parents take time off, and support my younger siblings' dreams. I'm happy.

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A/N- Basically Kichimaru acts like a big brother and there is fluff the story TM. A series of one shots with no particular release date, just felt like writing